BlackRock has received funding from a seed investor for its Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF), according to a filing yesterday.
The world’s largest fund manager received $100,000 in capital from the investor who bought shares from the iShares Bitcoin Trust on October 27, the filing shows.
A seed capital investor initially funds an ETF to get it off the ground and trading on a stock exchange.
BlackRock is the biggest and most prestigious Wall Street firm that has applied to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to release its own spot Bitcoin ETF. The regulator currently has a number of applications to review.
An ETF is a fund that allows investors to buy shares that track the price of an underlying asset like gold, foreign currencies or crypto. A spot Bitcoin ETF holds Bitcoin and gives investors exposure to the digital asset.
One has yet to start trading in the U.S., though: the SEC has always denied applications for such an investment vehicle, often citing the potential for market manipulation as the reason.
But BlackRock sent shockwaves through the crypto world when it applied back in June; analysts said that the move was a game changer because it meant traditional investors were calling for crypto exposure and BlackRock rarely gets ETF applications denied. Bitcoin’s price shot up following the announcement.
Billionaire BlackRock CEO Larry Fink then praised Bitcoin in television interviews, calling it an “international asset” that is “digitizing gold.”
ETF analysts now bet that the SEC will soon approve a spot Bitcoin ETF for trading in January.
Edited by Guillermo Jimenez
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Source: https://decrypt.co/208672/blackrock-bitcoin-etf-seed-funding
